The Japan-U.S. nuclear energy cooperation agreement was automatically extended Tuesday after its initial 30-year period ended Monday. However, it is now possible for either government to terminate the accord at any time by giving the other side six months' notice.
Japan faces an uphill battle over the accord because the United States has raised concerns that Japan possesses too much plutonium.
Since entering into force in July 1988, the agreement allows Japan to peacefully use plutonium and conduct research and development on the material.
Plutonium constitutes the foundation of Japan's nuclear fuel cycle, in which spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants is reprocessed into plutonium and then reused.
The production of plutonium is internationally prohibited because the material can be diverted for use in nuclear weapons. Japan is the only nation without nuclear weapons to be exempted from the ban.
Washington did not ask Tokyo to amend the agreement by the end of the 30-year period, but conveyed concerns about the use and management of Japan's plutonium, according to a diplomatic source.
Japan possesses approximately 47 tons of plutonium inside and outside the country -- enough to make about 6,000 nuclear warheads -- although all of it is for peaceful purposes.
Principles to be maintained
At a press conference on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga referred to the automatic extension of the agreement.
"We'll proceed with the use of plutonium while firmly maintaining the principle of not possessing any plutonium that's not for [peaceful] purposes," Suga said.
The nation's new basic energy plan, approved on July 3 by the Cabinet, established for the first time Tokyo's intention to work to reduce Japan's stockpile of plutonium.
The Japan Atomic Energy Commission is also expected to propose its basic plan to reduce the stockpile soon.
Even so, substantially reducing the stockpile is difficult because the nuclear fuel cycle has stagnated. With little progress being made in restarting nuclear power plants suspended after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, the consumption of plutonium via so-called pluthermal power generation has been sluggish.
"For the time being, it is unlikely that Washington will unilaterally scrap the accord," a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
However, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said that Japan is now left in an "unstable situation."
Tokyo intends to work to gain the understanding of Washington and the rest of the world by thoroughly explaining its nuclear policy and related efforts.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
